Tattoo typo costs Nova Scotia parlour nearly $9,000

Marie Huckle wanted to get a lasting tribute to a recently deceased friend, and decided to tattoo a phrase that held special meaning, signalling they would one day meet again.

Instead, the tattoo artist left out a letter, and she ended up with “See You at the Cossroads” on her ribcage.

“This had been a traumatic experience, and it’s embarrassing … I just don’t want it any more,” said Ms. Huckle, 23, who has spent many painful hours under a laser trying to erase the botched memorial.

A Nova Scotia small claims court has sided with the Dartmouth, N.S., woman, and ordered Newcombe’s Ink tattoo parlour to pay her nearly $9,000.

Ms. Huckle has already had eight tattoo-removal sessions, paid for by Newcombe’s Ink, but may need 15 more. The $8,992 settlement, handed down by adjudicator Eric K. Slone last month, will cover the additional sessions, medical supplies, travel and legal costs, and general damages.

“There is a high duty upon a tattoo artist to double check that everything is precisely as it ought to be before putting a needle to someone’s skin and potentially making permanent something that the person would not want on their skin… A spelling mistake is clearly a breach of that duty of care,” he wrote in his decision.

Experts say such mistakes aren’t uncommon, and point to one man’s “Genious” tattoo (it wasn’t ironic), and an NHL player who celebrated his team’s playoff victory with a ‘‘Stanley Cup Champians” tattoo.

On Dec. 17, 2010, Ms. Huckle walked into Newcombe’s Ink with a printout of “See You at the Crossroads” in a gothic font. She and tattoo artist Helena Pelletier found a similar font on the office computer.

Ms. Huckle confirmed the spelling on the screen and the paper template were correct, but the template was too big. Ms. Pelletier produced a smaller version, and placed it on Ms. Huckle’s ribcage. She asked her to look in the mirror to check.

“It was backwards,” said Ms. Huckle. “And I had already checked the spelling, so I was looking at the placement of it, the size of it, the font, making sure everything was OK.”

“He was very co-operative, and said, ‘No problem. We’ll do whatever it takes’,” Ms. Huckle said.

She refused the offer of a cover-up tattoo. He refunded the cost of the tattoo and contacted a tattoo-removal technician. But after eight sessions, during which only “The Cossroads” was removed, he stopped returning her calls, Ms. Huckle said.

That’s when she took her case to small claims court.

There is a high duty upon a tattoo artist to double check that everything is precisely as it ought to be before putting a needle to someone’s skin

There, she said, she learned that Ms. Pelletier had traced each template, by hand, off of the computer screen, because their printer was broken.

Ms. Huckle said she’s satisfied with the ruling, and is waiting for the money to finish the removal process, which is “100 times more painful than getting the tattoo itself.”

Tattoo typos happen more often than you think, said Shane Bolton, owner of Toronto-based Fading Fast tattoo removal, who says he sees two or three annually. He cites one client that had a “Genious” tattoo.

“A lot of times, it’s just because people are too excited,” said Mr. Bolton. “They’re getting a tattoo, it’s a big occasion. And they look at it and say ‘oh, that looks great!’ But they don’t thoroughly check it over.”

Boston Bruin Brad Marchand celebrated his team’s 2011 Stanley Cup win with a tattoo in the dressing room. “Instead of saying Stanley Cup Champions it said Stanley Cup Champians,” he said in his offseason diary for ESPN.com. “I don’t even know how that happened… It’s fixed now.”

In another Nova Scotia court case, Amy Ullock got a tattoo that said “You’re so beatiful.” However, the judge ruled that having seen the phrase on the computer, the stencil and on her arm, Ms. Ullock was “the author of her own misfortune.”